Open Library Book Search

Search and extract data from millions of books in the Open Library database. Get comprehensive book information including titles, authors, ISBNs, publishers, publication dates, cover images, and more.

Features

• Comprehensive Search: Search by title, author, ISBN, subject, or publisher
• Rich Metadata: Extract detailed book information including ISBNs, publication years, languages, and edition counts
• Cover Images: Automatic cover image URLs in multiple sizes
• Flexible Filtering: Filter results by language and publication year range
• Field Selection: Choose specific fields to extract for optimized results
• High Volume: Retrieve up to 100 books per search

Input Parameters

Field	Type	Description
Search Query	String	General search query for books, authors, or subjects
Book Title	String	Search by specific book title
Author Name	String	Search by author name
ISBN	String	Search by ISBN (10 or 13 digits)
Subject	String	Search by subject or topic
Publisher	String	Search by publisher name
Maximum Results	Integer	Number of books to retrieve (1-100, default: 50)
Fields to Extract	Array	Specific fields to include in results (leave empty for all)
Language Filter	String	Filter by language code (e.g., eng, spa, fre)
Published Year From	Integer	Filter books published from this year onwards
Published Year To	Integer	Filter books published up to this year

Output Data

Each book result includes:

• key: Open Library unique identifier
• title: Book title
• author_name: List of authors
• author_key: Author identifiers
• first_publish_year: Original publication year
• isbn: List of ISBN numbers
• publisher: List of publishers
• language: Available language codes
• edition_count: Number of published editions
• cover_i: Cover image ID
• cover_url_small/medium/large: Direct links to cover images
• book_url: Link to Open Library book page
• ebook_access: Availability status (borrowable, no_ebook, etc.)
• has_fulltext: Full text availability indicator
• subject: List of subjects/topics
• place: Publication locations
• person: People mentioned in the book
• time: Time periods covered

Use Cases

• Book Database Building: Create comprehensive book catalogs
• Bibliographic Research: Academic and literary research
• Library Systems: Integration with library management systems
• ISBN Lookups: Batch ISBN verification and data enrichment
• Author Research: Discover complete author bibliographies
• Publishing Analysis: Track publication trends and patterns
• E-commerce: Enrich book listings for online stores
• Reading Apps: Power book discovery and recommendation features

Example Searches

Search for Fantasy Books:

• Search Query: "fantasy dragons"
• Maximum Results: 50

Find Books by Author:

• Author Name: "J.K. Rowling"
• Maximum Results: 20

ISBN Lookup:

• ISBN: "9780439708180"

Subject Research:

• Subject: "artificial intelligence"
• Published Year From: 2020

Publisher Catalog:

• Publisher: "Penguin Books"
• Language Filter: "eng"

Tips for Best Results

1. Combine Filters: Use multiple search parameters together for more precise results
2. Year Range: Apply year filters to focus on recent or historical publications
3. Field Selection: Specify only needed fields to reduce data size and improve performance
4. Language Codes: Use ISO 639-2 three-letter codes for language filtering
5. Pagination: The API returns up to 100 results per request

Data Format

Results are provided in JSON format, easily exportable to CSV, Excel, or JSON files for further analysis and integration with other tools.

Performance

• Fast response times with efficient data retrieval
• Reliable error handling with automatic retries
• Optimized for batch processing and large-scale data extraction